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Skim Readers and Researchers

Lesson 6 from: E-Commerce Copywriting: The Key to Conversion

Carrie French

Skim Readers and Researchers

Lesson 6 from: E-Commerce Copywriting: The Key to Conversion

Carrie French

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Lesson Info

6. Skim Readers and Researchers

Lesson Info

Skim Readers and Researchers

website content is uniquely driven by formatting. Just think of the visual difference and impact of a small paragraph versus a large bold page header. However, a skilled copywriter does not rely on design to do all of the heavy lifting. You should always write for two types of audiences. I call them skim readers and researchers headers and big text moments are for the skim readers who are scrolling quickly and passively taking in information. For that reason, the headers should be definitive benefit focused statements. It's a common and somewhat lazy practice to ask questions in the headers, but that's a missed opportunity. If a skin reader only reads a main header that says why shop here well they'll never know the answer. However, if that same header says something like curated luxury collections, the reader would actually learn something something valuable with a just a glance on the flip side, paragraph content should be written for the researchers don't be afraid to get really det...

ailed here. Your small text paragraph content should provide specific information and highlight unique facts, not just general benefits. When someone takes the time to read the smaller text, they either want to be convinced or they're looking for more information to answer. A specific question. Also always double check that your headers are an accurate representation of what you're expanding on in the next paragraph so that people can easily find the information they're looking for. This will also help the content feel thoughtfully organized. For example, readers will feel a little lost if the header says curated luxury collections, but then the paragraph text underneath, it talks about fast shipping and secure checkout. Now let's hop back over to the riding exercise sheet from before. I'll show you an example of what I mean and you will get a chance to practice it. Hearing examples and learning about concepts is part of the process, but practice is the best way to strengthen skills and deepen your understanding. Ready. Okay, so the instructions are really, really simple. Your job here is to consider the following list of core brand facts, expand a full paragraph for researchers and summarize a strong header for skin readers. In my example brief, I have a list of the core brand facts that need to be included. This website content will be for an anti bullying curriculum that teaches empathy centered character education. The nonprofit has existed since 1992 and it's free for schools. It uses art and aligns with steam goals for K through five grade levels. The lessons are 45 minutes long once per month and it achieves a 12% reduction in bullying over the course of a school year. Now reading that out loud. It's a very simple paragraph content. So if you're impressed without basic summary, let's set our sights a little higher the header text could be something simple like why teach empathy or literally just anti bullying curriculum but those are quite superficial. The first doesn't actually answer the question and the second only hits one mark Instead. I recommend something like end bullying with empathy that is a confident, action driven tone of voice and it explains both the end goal and the primary method of delivery. Next, the researcher paragraph needs to summarize all of the brand facts in a more engaging, compelling way. Obviously this is a fake brief. So I'm substituting name anywhere that brand name would be mentioned. So here's what I wrote name empowers Children to overcome adversity and treat others with empathy, kindness and compassion. Since 1992 are nonprofit organization has donated curriculum resources and art supplies to elementary schools across the country. Our hands on lessons integrate seamlessly into arts education so schools can teach essential character education skills while also working towards learning benchmarks together. We can raise a generation of empathetic learners and create safer, more inclusive classrooms. On average teachers reported a 12% decrease in bullying after completing the name curriculum With name, it only takes 45 minutes each month to change a student's life. You'll notice that I did not just roll down the list of facts in the same exact order that they were given to me. And I also included some assumed benefits. Even though the nonprofit didn't explicitly tell me that it would create safer, more inclusive classrooms. I can assume that will be true with full fewer incidences of bullying and I didn't have to explicitly call it K through five, which I didn't think fit the tone and flow. So I instead referred to them as Children in elementary schools. The end result is cohesive with the kind of storytelling feel and yet it's jam packed with vital information. Your turn the brief this time is for a jewelry brand that primarily offers wrap rings and stud earrings. They're handmade in new york and our original designs, they target a high earning millennial female audience and the jewelry is themed around hobbies, travel and pets. Everything is designed by a Pratt Institute graduate. I'm not going to include photos here so you can get creative and imagine what the designs might look like. But that's the core information for this made up brand. Just like my example. I encourage you to write header text that summarizes two of those facts in order to make the strongest connection and share the most information possible in just a few words, then rewrite all of that information into a paragraph that answers questions in a cohesive way. When you're done, we will move on to the next chapter together to learn about product descriptions

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